Tag Archives: apps

Surprise! I did a video instead of a post. I just figured it would be quicker. However, seeing how long it is taking to upload the video, I may be wrong. At any rate, here are the instructions for how I got Twitch to broadcast on my Xbox one:

Hey there,

I played around trying to fix it and I basically did this…

1. go to http://www.twitch.tv/settings/connections and disconnect your xbone from twitch
2. on your xbone dashboard, highlight twitch and press start button (the one with the lines on it to the left of the X button). A menu will pop up. Select ‘manage app.’ Move to the right under ‘Saved Data’ and delete that from ‘everywhere.’ Then ‘Uninstall twitch.’
3. Turn off your xbox by pressing the button on the box.
4. Phsyically unplug your xbox one’s power cord from the socket.
5. You need to ‘drain’ the remaining power from your xbox one. To do this, just press your finger over the the power button area on the console for 30 seconds ( Im not sure if this actually does anything, but I still do it. just unplugging the console alone might drain all the power as well but whatever)
6. With your xbox one still unplugged, go to your Twitch dashboard on the Twitch website. From there, on the top right you will see ‘Stream Key.’ Select that. it will say ‘Anyone can use this key to broadcast to your channel so do not to show it on video.’ and with have a button ‘Show Key.’ Click that and reset you stream key.
7.Now you can plug your xbone back in and power it up. Then you need to Install Twitch Again.
8. Launch Twitch on your xbone and go to ‘Log in.’
9. It will give you the Key for you to punch in at twitch.tv/activate. It will tell you if it was successful or not.
10. Load the game you are going to broadcast before you snap twitch. This gives the xbone a chance to load and everything should sync properly.
11. When you are ready to broadcast, make sure your kinect cam is up and running as well as your actual game feed. I.E. make sure your preview screen is fully loaded and running.
12. Youre ready to broadcast.
*** Try not to go back and forth from the game to your dashboard/home on your xbone while broadcasting ( as if you were inviting someone into your game party or checking a message or something). This throws the kinect out of sync , you a headache and you will have to repeat these steps again.

I hope this information was helpful and that everyone has a great weekend!

M-Hey there! I wanted to discuss the digital age and it’s impact upon creative people.

I-You did! And what makes you think you know so much about it?

M-Well, I have been sharing my creations on the internet since 2002.

I-Okay, that does seem like a long time to be sharing creations but how long have you been actually creating?

M-Hmm, well let’s see . . . I began writing seriously when I was 12. I have always been good at that. I got straight A’s in English/Creative Writing classes as long as I can remember. Not bragging, just trying to demonstrate that I have always had enough talent in that arena and every teacher noticed it. As for music, I discovered rock and roll in 7th grade. By the time I was 15, I had learned to play some songs on bass and was in my 1st band. After having problems finding a decent singer, we had a discussion about it and I confessed to being able to sing. Truth was, I was one of the lead vocalists in choir throughout elementary school but did not want to be that in a band. The singer in a band received more attention than I wanted. To make a long story short, once they found out I could sing, they found another bassist and I was stuck with it.

Lastly came graphics, which I began learning in 2001. They were some of the first things I shared on the internet. Well, graphics & writings because both were much easier uploaded back in the days of dial-up internet. I am currently 49 yrs. old, so I am guessing you can do the math.

I- Yep! That is 37 yrs. writing, 34 yrs. playing music, 13 yrs. making graphics, and 12 yrs. of sharing them on the internet. Sounds like you do have plenty of experience at both creating and sharing. So then, when you speak about this subject, I guess you might actually know what you are talking about.

M-Damn straight! Hell, I ran a community on MSN Groups. I created multiple websites. At one point, I was even in discussions with a TV star regarding building them a website. I have been sharing graphics, writings, & even my own music since 2002. I had to create an entire website just to share the music, but I did it because people wanted it.

I-Okay. So I sense that you have an insider’s view to the internet from a creative person’s point of view. So then, I presume you have something to say about it?

M-Well, of course I do! Do you think I would have invited you here for nothing?

I-Hmm, I am the one who’s supposed to be asking the questions.

M-Is that a hard rule for this interview?

I-For now, yeah kinda.

M-Okay, well fine. Anyway, I have noticed a lot of change in regards to sharing and the internet in general. Especially for people who create original material. In the earlier days of the internet, people used to appreciate the fact that someone took the time to create something original & share it. They used to comment & share it with their friends. Now, well, it is different. The digital age combined with social media to create an internet society of faux-people.

I-Faux-people?

M-Yes, faux-people. They are just a bunch of photographs of people who pretend to be your friends, fans, or followers. But they never really communicate with you. They do this, in the retarded hope that they will gain more friends, fans, or followers. What none of them seem to get, is that all they are gaining is faux-friends, faux-fans, and faux-followers. None of them are real. It is just another photo, a number, and ultimately an illusion, if there is no communication. The result is the truly creative people are getting lost in the mix.

To top this off, the digital age is now upon us. Everything is now just a download away and so much of it is free. They want their books free, their music free, their TV shows free, and soon all their games and movies free, too.

Because all this is going on, creative people are expected to spend money on their craft, whether it be that college education to write, or the cost of equipment to create music, or painting supplies, or software. Whatever…they are now expected to create and then share everything for free. In return, they get a few likes. Most of the time, people are not even listening, or watching, or reading, because they don’t have to. They just got a free link to their website or profile, by clicking a button.

I-That seems like a very cynical point of view.

M-Yes, unfortunately it does but the evidence of 2 different experiments indicates it is true.

I-Experiments? What experiments?

M-The first one was with my first book. With the cost of the two printed books I bought for previewing, I’d barely made any money. So I decided to briefly give away copies in hopes of getting more reviews and that people would share it with others. I gave out 219 copies of it. I received one review. Granted , that one review was from a book reviewer who gave the book 5 stars and even purchased a printed copy, but still you would expect more than one review, when giving out a couple of hundred books. I should have learned then, that people don’t appreciate anything that is free.

To this day, more than 3 yrs. later, numerous people have told me they liked the book verbally, or through email, yet only one review has ever been posted.

The second experiment I did, was give away all my music that I have shared online. All I asked is if you downloaded anything, to please like my Facebook band page, or become a fan, or at least, share the post with others.

Over the course of the week I received a total of 14 downloads. That’s it!

Of course, one could argue that the music must be bad. All of it is complete trash! But if you have been told by thousands of people over a time period of 12 years that it is not bad, then that leads to a different conclusion. Nobody is reading the posts and nobody shared that post. The second part of that conclusion can be and was verified. I personally checked myself. Nobody shared that post in any of the 5 places I posted it.

I-Well, I would have to agree that the evidence of both of those experiments is pretty conclusive. So what does this mean for you? I assume that was your point of this interview.

M- Indeed it was! It was this final revelation that creating and uploading music that nobody is going to listen to or share, is absolutely a complete waste of time and resources. Quite simply Gibson guitars, software DAWs, Casio Keyboards, Korg midi controllers, amps, mics, iPads, apps, etc.etc.etc. are not free. They do not grow on musical trees! Music does not create itself either. It takes lots of time and knowledge. If fans cannot appreciate these facts enough, to at least share a post about you giving away free music, then the whole entire point in sharing becomes moot.

Therefore, I am officially announcing that I will no longer be uploading any more music for public consumption. Edit- Had a change of heart regarding this. You can read more about it in this post.

I- Ouch! That seems rather drastic but I have to agree. If you cannot give away something, there is no point in wasting time and money to share it. Is that all or did you have anything else to add?

M- I suppose there is one more thing.

I- Well then, out with it!

M- I hope the same thing does not happen with my next book. I am currently on the final chapter but am dreading finishing it. Fact is, I almost abandoned it altogether. Between what happened with the first book, which really sucked away my motivation, and the book’s content, I nearly walked away from writing it.

I- Okay, I get the loss of motivation due to circumstances surrounding the first book, but what about the second book’s content made you consider walking away?

M- The idea, the concept behind the book, was to create an entirely new mythology for a monster that was real. Not something fake like werewolves, vampires, or zombies. I found the perfect candidate in shadow beings. Many paranormal shows, and even old black and white pictures, have caught evidence that they exist, but nobody knows what they are or where they come from or why they are here. I have created a story that answers those questions and more. It is believable, plausible, and scary as hell. However, I was and still am, concerned that the world is not ready for a real horror. I still worry that this story will give people real nightmares, and that it will only exacerbate their reluctance to share.

Besides, if this book is released and it produces the same results as the last one, I fear the consequences of that.

I- By consequences, what do you mean? Are you implying an end to your writing books?

M- Well, not only that. Of course, there would be no reason to publically post anymore writings. If fans won’t review or share them, then it also becomes pointless.

But the deep, dark secret is, that I find myself as a man without purpose, and what is the point in that?

I- As I said before, I ask the questions, not you.

M- Yeah well, I often don’t follow the rules. So answer the one question, I have given you, and answer it honestly.

I- Fine! A man without purpose is worthless! He has no direction, no goals. He is a stagnant pool of water. Every breath he takes, is a breath someone else more deserving, should take. A man without purpose would be better off dead and providing fertilizer to whatever grows above him.

M- That was rather harsh but thank you for your honesty.

I- And thank you for taking the time to do the interview with me. I am certain your words will give many food for thought.

Like this:

This CD contains ALL 12 songs created this year. You can buy the CD which contains a 4-page booklet for $6.98, or get the digital download for only $4.98. Yes, I really make next to nothing at these low prices, but I wanted to give everyone a chance to own them all, before I delete the individual tracks from the store and make them only purchasable through charity.

All songs are either instrumental rock or electronica. They make for great background music. Only one song has any lyrics at all. 🙂

Before I get started in raking Apple through the proverbial mud, let me make it clear that in general, I like Apple products. I have owned 1 Ipod mini(or whatever the starter Ipod was called back then), 2 iPod Nanos, 2 iPod Touches, and 2 Ipads. Their physical products have always possessed the best technology and are consistently reliable. So it is with reluctance that I am forced to reveal this major negative of the Apple business model. When you like a product or company you usually want to do everything you can to support them.

However, the bottom line is, that whenever a I see a company committing business acts that are not consumer friendly, I speak up about it. You need only look through the archives of this website and you will find articles about similar experiences with Microsoft and Samsung. I guess it was only a matter of time before Apple ended up here, as all big companies at some point tend to forget that the customers are the bottom line, not their bank accounts.

I can understand how their business policies developed. What I cannot understand is why they never evolved. If you recall Apple got started in music business by deciding to create a way for customers to download music and charge them for it. At the time they were doing that, a business model of ALL sales being final made perfect sense. After all, everything they were selling was simple DRM protected music files. Files which they had complete control over quality and delivery.

Then over the years, they added other media file types. Movies, TV shows, and a few games. All of these products were completely controllable by Apple. Then at some point in time, they decided to let third-party developers in on a piece of the pie. Mainly, to make more money but as a side effect consumers got more choice. However, now Apple was not in control of every product that was sold. These apps they did not create and it became more and more apparent that they did not have the manpower or want to invest the resources required, to fully inspect every single app for quality control. While at the same time they still maintained the business model of ALL sales being final. It was at this point, when Apple was no longer fully in control of the quality of the products they were offering for sale, that their business policies should have evolved to reflect this new era of app sales. However, they did not change those archaic policies and that left the onus of quality to fall firmly upon developers, who had no interest in doing anything other than, creating and selling apps.

This was apparent in the number of new apps showing up in the market place that did not work at all. These apps simply crashed. Granted, for a while it did seem like a lot of the developers took the time to actually recode the apps and fix them. However, this gradually gave way to a new breed of app developers. This new breed was only concerned with putting out as many apps as they could each year to generate sales. If the app did not work properly, they simply abandoned them or re-branded them with a different name and resold them to more suckers( oops, I meant customers). There was no concern about customer satisfaction, why bother? These consumers could never return a product for refund.

Seeing this trend happening in the app store and having gotten ahold of a number of apps that did not work. I began to be very patient in my deciding to pull the trigger on purchasing an app. But over time it became clear to me that even reviews could not be relied upon, for the decision-making process. Here is just one of many articles, on this subject.- http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/20/technology/finding-fake-reviews-online.html?_r=0

So now you cannot trust the reviews to lead you in the right decision, or even to tell you if an app developer is actually making any real progress,s toward fixing a problem(s) with their apps. I learned over time, if you are patient, some apps actually do get fixed, and thus you do not have to throw them out, along with your money.

I finally got the point where I had to say something about this to the general public because I simply got tired of losing my hard-earned money on unscrupulous and fraudulent app developers. It got to the point of simply being beyond my comprehension of how Apple could stand behind this Archaic business policy of NO Refunds. With a business policy like this in place, not only are they showing they have no faith in the products they are selling, they are also stating, in no uncertain terms, that they don’t give a shit about customer satisfaction. Furthermore, they are stating to app developers : Go ahead and develop whatever you like, we will sell it for you and won’t ever return any money back to the customer, no matter how many bad reviews your app receives.

I discovered this was exactly how things are still working within Apple, when I attempted to get a refund on an app I purchased about 9 months ago. I have never been able to use this app. I patiently waited for the app to be fixed but it never was. In fact, they even claimed to be adding a new feature called audiob.us support. But when they did, it would end up recording only one track at a time, if it even worked for you. My main reason for buying this app was to have a DAW to record music I created using audiob.us. Even if the app did not crash on my iPad 3, it would not serve for this function. A true implementation of this feature would be to create a track for every app being used inside of audiob.us. I asked for a refund OR store credit of the $50.00 this app costs me. I was told That “All sales are final, no refunds”.

Looking over the reviews for this app, it seems pretty apparent to anyone that this app has issues, and anyone who purchased it should be given the opportunity for a refund. I was patient, I gave them time to fix their app. I was not asking for anything extraordinary or unusual. I was asking for a working product or a refund in the form of cash or credit. Yet, Apple stands there, arms propped up on its hips and spouting like some small child, “No! You can’t have it, its mine now.”

If Apple cannot grow up and take responsibility for the products they sell, then customers need to be aware of this and do whatever it takes to protect themselves from companies that do business like this. I will be extremely careful before I make any more apple app purchases. I will have to research the product, in multiple places on the internet, knowing that reviews cannot be trusted. Hell, I might even have to download them illegally and test them out, before purchasing anything anymore.

I would suggest that all of you do the same thing before you make any purchases, from any company, that does not stand behind products they sell you. I have included screenshots(Simply click on any of them to view the full size screenshot) of just a few of the reviews this app has received and a pdf of their Official reply to my request for a refund or store credit, for this non-functional app they sold to me as proof, that what I am saying is 100% true.

Of course, if you feel like you have money to burn, completely ignore everything I have just written.